Boone High basketball star Schuyler Rimmer commits to Gators

4:14 p.m. EST, August 5, 2012|By Buddy Collings, Orlando Sentinel

Boone forward Schuyler Rimmer orally committed on Sunday to Florida, the university both of his parents attended and the team that has been his favorite since basketball became his sport of choice as a young teen.

Florida upped its involvement with a July 18 scholarship offer after watching Rimmer help Boone score a surprise championship at the Gator Team Camp in June. That development brought quick resolution to a decision Rimmer originally expected to make in the fall. He called UF coach Billy Donovan to commit on Sunday afternoon.

The 6-foot-9, 233-pound rising senior had two dozen major college offers. He averaged 16.4 points, 13.1 rebounds and 2.8 blocked shots as a junior and upped his recruiting stock while playing for Q6 All Stars travel team this spring and summer.

"Towards the end it was between Florida, Southern Cal, Stanford, Virginia, Vanderbilt and Tennessee," Rimmer said. "I started playing basketball really seriously about the same time Florida won the back-to-back (NCAA) championships (2006 and 2007). They were always in the back of my mind as the place I wanted to go."

Rimmer made an unofficial visit to UF last Wednesday, where he was reassured by Donovan that he fits at Florida.

"He was really concise and said we still want you and we still need you on the team. It was nice to go up there and hear that," Rimmer said.

He is the third Class of 2013 player to commit to UF, joining elite point guard Kasey Hill of Montverde Academy and top 10 national prospect Chris Walker of Bonifay Holmes County, another 6-9 forward.

While Walker is renowned for his athleticism Rimmer has said his role at UF will be more similar to that played by current Gators forward Erik Murphy, a 6-10 low-post player who as a junior last season led the team with 37 blocked shots and was effective in the post and able to stretch defenses with his perimeter shooting.

Rimmer's 4.2 grade point average enhanced his lengthy list of offers.

"Stanford and Vanderbilt are some of the top universities in the country. But I know that a degree from Florida is highly regarded," Rimmer said. "They're still a really good academic school as well, one of the best public schools in the nation."